School crisis teams ready to respond

School districts expanding ways to help students deal with tragedy

Don Buchheit, senior director for student support services for the county Office of Education, was among a team of professionals who helped counselors and psychologists talk with students following fatal shootings in Oceanside this month.
— John Gibbins

Don Buchheit, senior director for student support services for the county Office of Education, was among a team of professionals who helped counselors and psychologists talk with students following fatal shootings in Oceanside this month.
— John Gibbins

“You process it with the kids,” Davis said about how therapists interact with youths in mourning. “Give them a chance to talk about it, and talk about their feelings.”

Davis said techniques for helping people through grief have become more sophisticated over the years, and she and other psychologists are continuing to learn new methods.

She and other district psychologists recently attended a workshop by Diana Browning Wright, lead author of the manual “Positive Intervention for Serious Behavior Problems,” which is used by the California Department of Education.

Reached in Los Angeles, Wright said she first saw school districts introduce crisis-intervention teams in the early 1980s.

“Grief is normal,” she said. “You should be unable to sleep. You should cry. What matters is when grief interferes with your daily life function.”

Gamble, the psychologist in Escondido, said people trying to help grieving youths are more likely to err on the side of doing nothing because they are uncomfortable talking about death or crime. She instead recommends that they encourage those children to grapple with the trauma by talking, writing or doing art.

Don Buchheit, shown outside the county Office of Education, coordinates teams of counselors and psychologists who go to school campuses following traumatic incidents.
— John Gibbins